


CHEERS FOR KATHRYN JANEWAY

by vanhunks



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 10:38:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7570945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanhunks/pseuds/vanhunks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kathryn retires on her  80th birthday</p>
            </blockquote>





	CHEERS FOR KATHRYN JANEWAY

**Author's Note:**

> This short piece was first published under the name "Honouring Kathryn".

* * *

"And now, for meritorious service to the Federation, we honour Kathryn Janeway..."

Admiral Janeway rose slowly to her feet. The audience as one rose too and broke into tumultuous applause. She looked at them as the noise receded and their faces became clear. There was Tom, now Admiral Paris, standing next to B'Elanna, his wife. Admiral Harry Kim, head of Interstellar Affairs and old Magnus Rollins, long retired after serving as captain on one of the Federations largest vessels. She saw Ahn-Li Kim, daughter of Harry and Seven, smiling at her. Kathryn saw the tears...

They were all here. All of them. It was her eightieth birthday and to celebrate, the surprise had been pleasant. It coincided with her official retirement from Starfleet. She had given so much, received so much.

Only this morning, Ahn-Li Kim, now head of the science faculty at Starfleet Academy said to her, "You touched my life, Admiral, in a way no one else could..."

James Rollins, son of Magnus Rollins, now heading the Strategy Division of Starfleet Command, said, "I could never have come this far, Admiral, had it not been for you..."

Imogen Carey, the daughter Joe Carey had never seen, a beautiful woman, captaining one of the latest and most up to date vessels in the fleet. Her green eyes had been tearful when she addressed Kathryn earlier.

"All my life, Admiral Janeway, I have wanted to be like you..."

It brought tears to Kathryn's eyes. The years they had been gone, thought lost forever, years of hopeless yearning to be home... It meant everything to her and so much more. There had been a time she thought that she could never touch another life, never make a difference anymore. But here they all were, faces that were loving faces, some old, some younger, and always, they remembered her, always, they honoured her.

"All my life, I have wanted to be like you..."

Her hand reached for the man who stood next to her. She looked up at him with tired, loving eyes. His hair was now silver and the tattoo appeared strangely faded, the lines and curls vanishing into the creases of his ageing. Yet his dimples, now long forrows that reminded her of his father, still stirred something wondrous inside her. How often had her own wrinkled hands not caressed his face, touch the old familiar planes? His eyes were kind as they rested on her. She embraced his quiet strength and basked in it. But it was his smile that remained always the same. There was the old mirth in them, the old tenderness about it and mostly, the deep, deep sense of caring.

The faces of the audience receded along with the sound of applause. Further and further away they moved.

Kathryn saw only the man at her side. Old, yet still with his incredibly noble bearing. The hand that covered hers, squeezed her gently.

She smiled back at him.

"Take me home, Chakotay."

** 

end

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by a classic film "Cheers for Miss Bishop". I was struck by the resemblance of Chakotay and Kathryn's relationship to that of Sam and Miss Bishop. The ending of the film was particularly profound and just drove me to write this short piece.


End file.
